


Go

by aweewah



Series: Cold Night [2]
Category: Bandom, Paramore, Real Person Fiction, You Me At Six
Genre: Auntie!Hayley, Comedy, Dan and Jeremy are geniuses, Everyone Finds Out, F/M, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Josh holding a small child, Max Is Adorable, One big crazy bandom family, Parafamily, Retarded in love, SuperJosh, Taylor is awkward, Uncle!Josh, everyone is fabulous
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-29
Updated: 2014-03-29
Packaged: 2018-01-17 11:44:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1386409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aweewah/pseuds/aweewah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was still so surreal for me to say that Hayley was mine.</p><p>The day our lips had finally met was the day we both knew that we were going to last. Because in her words, it was always meant to be like this. Me. Her. We were always meant to be together. Though it took us a while to get to this point, it had become a reality. After so long, we both finally found the happiness we had been looking for.</p><p>And according to all our friends, they had been waiting for this to happen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I Can't Let Go of What's in Front of Me Here

“Is the weather always this beautiful?”  
  
“Well, not always. You just happened to be lucky to come here at the right time.”  
  
With spring well on its way, the weather was getting warmer and it was nice enough to spend the day being outside. The sky was clear, not a single cloud in sight, and the trees were beginning to blossom, making it clear that winter wasn’t going to be around for long. A lot of people were aware of this, which explained why so many of them were out, having made the decision not to stay cooped up inside. Instead, they took the time to get out of their houses and enjoy the warm air.  
  
Hayley and I were laying down on a blanket in the park underneath a tree, thankful that it was providing us shade. I was flat on my back and she lay against me, resting her head on my chest while I had an arm around her. I pressed my lips to the top of her head and smiled as I closed my eyes, feeling her shift her body a little so she could be closer. She began humming a little tune to herself and I smiled even wider as I listened, feeling so relaxed that I wouldn’t be surprised if I fell asleep right then and there.  
  
It was her idea to come here and since I was never able to explore Los Angeles, I thought it would be great to finally see what I’ve been missing. Not to mention, it was best for the both of us to get out of the house, especially after all that’s happened.  
  
Needless to say, a lot had happened in the last two days. Two days ago, when Hayley called me up in the middle of the night and told me that she needed me, I couldn’t stand to hear her so upset, so I got to California as soon as I could. That’s when she told me what happened; how she lost  _him_. The mere thought of him disgusted me and I didn’t even dare say his name because he was a fucking awful human being. What he did to Hayley had defined what kind of person he really was and he never deserved her. She was too much of an amazing person to be with someone like that.  
  
I had sat with her on the couch, holding her hand and reminding her why she was such a wonderful person. As she cried to me, all I could think about was how much I hated how she got hurt like that. Then I began thinking about how much I cared for her and how I would  _never_  make her feel like she wasn’t good enough. That’s when it hit me that I loved her more than anything and the next thing I knew, I was telling her my real feelings, which resulted in us kissing each other and falling asleep on the couch.  
  
 _”It’s always been you.”_  
  
And here we were, laying together in the park, all the while enjoying how happy we were and how great our day was going so far. I looked down at her and couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she looked. As if she wasn’t already pretty, the way the light hit her added to that. It made her striking orange hair glow and her green eyes were shining, especially when she laughed. Her laughter was one of my favorite sounds along with her voice because it never failed to brighten my mood, no matter how shitty I felt. As she looked up at me, beginning another one of her stories, I didn’t want to take my eyes off her. Hell, I didn’t even want to  _blink_  because I still couldn’t get over the fact that she was mine and I was hers.  
  
“The guys and I like to go here whenever we’re on break,” she told me. “At least when it’s nice out like this.”  
  
“Let me guess,” I smirked. “They were always at the basketball court.”  
  
She nodded and rolled her eyes. “I swear, those two are the biggest show-offs. Especially Jeremy since he likes to remind us that he can score a basket without even looking. He _really_  likes showing off his basketball skills when Kat’s with us.”  
  
“Well, isn’t Kat a lucky one.”  
  
I chuckled when I began to picture Jeremy being overly-confident in a game of one on one with Taylor while his wife and Hayley watched them. It was also interesting to hear what she and her band liked to do when they weren’t touring. Apparently, Hayley told me that Jeremy was currently visiting relatives with Kat because they hadn’t seen their baby yet. Taylor flew over to Tennessee to visit his parents since it’s been a while since he saw them.  
  
That’s when something else came to mind. Thinking about why Jeremy and Taylor weren’t around reminded me that the two of them being gone was the reason why I had come all the way over here in the first place. While it was okay for them to be gone, I couldn’t quite say the same. It was perfectly fine for them to be off somewhere else because they weren’t on tour and neither was Hayley. They weren’t going to be on tour for a few weeks while I was going to be on the road again in three days.  
  
“What about you?” she asked as she lightly traced circles on my chest with her index finger. “Are you any good at basketball?”  
  
“My skills are average,” I scoffed, but smiled shortly after. “But to be honest, I’d also show-off in front of you if I were that good.”  
  
She giggled and lifted her head off my chest to look at me directly. “Josh the All-Star. I wouldn’t mind that.”  
  
“Oh, good, then I know what else I can do besides be in a band,” I joked. “I’ll be a part-time basketball player.”  
  
“With average skills,” she pointed out. “Yeah, that’s a good plan there, buddy.”  
  
I raised an eyebrow. “I like how the flaw you pointed out was my skills and not the fact that I wanted to be a basketball player only part-time.”  
  
“Oh, don’t get me started on that,” she said, the smile still on her face. “But really, there’s no need for you to be some cocky basketball player. I love you just the way you are.”  
  
At her words, I felt my heart pound against my chest. I was still trying to get used to her saying things like that to me. This was all still so new.  
  
“I love you, too.”  
  
Her response was to close the space between us and meet my lips with hers. Both my arms encircled her and I deepened the kiss, wanting it to last longer. Actually, I wanted this whole day to last longer.  
  
I knew it was only a matter of time until I had to go back. The day before I had gotten a call from Dan asking me where the hell I was and after telling him my whereabouts, he asked for an explanation on why I was halfway around the world. I hadn’t gone into details, only telling him that I was needed and I had to be here. It wasn’t like I was lying to him because I  _was_  needed and I  _did_  have to be here for her since she had nobody else at the time. Dan didn’t question any further than that. Instead, he told me that I should head back home soon because our first show for the tour was getting closer.  
  
I didn’t tell any of the band about Hayley yet. She didn’t say anything about me to Jeremy and Taylor either. So far, the only thing she had done was announce on Twitter that she was no longer with  _him_. It wasn’t because we were trying to keep our relationship a secret from them. We figured that if we were going to tell them, then we had to do it in person. This was face to face news.  
  
She was well aware that I couldn’t stay here for long, which was another reason why we were here. We both wanted to make the most of our time together before I had to go back to Weybridge. This was the last day I was going to be with her until next time and I hated that I had absolutely no idea when the next time would be.  
  
Hayley pulled away from the kiss and sat up. “Thank you for coming here. I can’t believe I forgot to say this, but I’m so glad you came.”  
  
“You needed me,” I said. “I promised you I’d always be there if you needed me.”  
  
“You were always that kind of person,” she held my hands and our fingers interlocked. “You really are the best person I could ever ask for, Josh.”  
  
I squeezed her hands. “You’re my best friend, Hayles. If anything, I’m lucky to have you.”  
  
As much as I didn’t want to leave, I was thankful that any of this had even happened. We were finally  _together_. As long as I knew that we both loved each other, then I think I was okay with being away from her for a while. This was something we’ve always had to deal with. We knew for sure that we were going to last, no matter what.  
  
Kissing my hand, she grinned at me. “Come on, how about we head back to my house?”  
  
“Yeah,” I nodded. “Let’s go.”

We both got up, folded the blanket, and brushed the grass off. Then after I offered and she finally accepted, she hopped on my back and I carried her all the way to the car.

 

* * *

 

There were two cars outside Hayley’s house by the time we got there. One was parked in her driveway next to the empty space where her own car usually parked. The other vehicle was parked on the sidewalk right in front of her home. We got out of the car and exchanged looks before we walked hand in hand to the door.  
  
She gave me a slight smile and held my hand tighter. “It’s them.”  
  
Nothing else had to be said for me to understand what she meant. It was obvious who was there and I took a deep breath while she got her keys out of her purse. Finally, she unlocked the door and just as we expected, somebody was waiting in the living room.  
  
The person waiting and sitting on the couch was Taylor.  
  
Hayley still hadn’t let go of my hand, but walked a few steps ahead so she could be in front of me. Taylor got up from the couch and walked over to us. Though he was the only one in the living room with us, I heard some voices coming from one of the rooms down the hall. Jeremy and Kat were here, too.  
  
“There you are,” he said. “We just got here and were just about to call you.”  
  
“Is Kat here with you guys?” she tilted her head.  
  
“Yeah, she is,” Taylor said. That’s when he noticed me and he looked puzzled. “Josh? What are you doing here?”  
  
“What are  _you_  doing here?” Hayley asked. “I thought you guys were in Nashville.”  
  
“We were, at least until Jeremy found out what you put on Twitter,” Taylor replied. “Are you okay? What happened between you and Chad?”  
  
I frowned at the mention of the name and so did Hayley. She knew she couldn’t just make that whole event disappear and of course she had been waiting for when she had to tell them. Still, we couldn’t stand hearing that name. Her more so than me.  
  
“He...cheated on me,” Hayley muttered. “We’re over. He left.”  
  
She said the words so flatly, trying not to sound upset. She had no desire to be with  _him_ anymore, but it still hurt her that he did what he did. I looked at her face, which remained blank, not wanting to show any emotion. Taylor, on the other hand, immediately pulled her into a hug and I let go of her hand so she could hug him back.  
  
“I’m so sorry,” he said. “That’s why me and Jerm flew back here. We wanted to check on you to see if you’re alright.”  
  
“Yeah, I’m okay,” she assured him. “I’m better now. A lot better now thanks to Josh.”  
  
Taylor loosened his hold and then looked at me. “Oh yeah, that’s something I still don’t understand. Um, what are you doing here again? I mean, not that it’s not great to see you again, because it is. Just...what are you doing here?”  
  
“She called me the other day,” I answered. “And she told me she needed me, so I came here to see if she was alright. That’s when I found out what happened and I didn’t want her to be alone, so that’s why I’m here.”  
  
While I was talking, she stood beside me and her hand slipped into mine again. After she did so, Taylor’s eyes were now focused on our hands and it took a total of two seconds for his eyes to widen, finally understanding what was going on.  
  
“Whoa, wait a minute,” he pointed at us. “You two...? Are you really...?”  
  
Hayley laughed and looked at me. “I know it’s kind of surprising to you, but yeah. Josh and I finally realized how much we mean to each other.”  
  
“So, you guys are really together?” a wide smile then crossed Taylor’s features. He then went over to me and gave me a one-armed hug. “That’s great! Welcome, to the Parafamily, Josh.”  
  
“Parafamily?” I repeated, glancing at Hayley to clarify.  
  
“It’s a name we thought of for our friends and family,” she explained. “Looks like you’re apart of it now.”  
  
“There’s no turning back, is there?”  
  
“Once you’re in, you can’t get out.”  
  
“Good. ‘Cause I don’t want out.”  
  
At that moment, we heard footsteps and looked to see that Jeremy had entered the living room. He looked a little tired, but he still had a smile on his face and the first thing he did when he saw that we were here was give Hayley a hug. Of course, he also had questions for us.  
  
“Mind telling us what we’ve missed?” Jeremy inquired. “And why Josh Franceschi is here?”  
  
Hayley went on to telling what she had told Taylor. This time, she didn’t have much of a problem talking about it. She was more touched that her two best friends had cut their trips short to make sure she wasn’t alone. I was just as glad as she was because if there’s one thing we all could agree on was that nobody ever wanted Hayley to be alone or upset.  
  
“It’s for the best that we aren’t together anymore,” she continued. “Because now I have Josh.”  
  
“Huh, so you guys are a couple now,” Jeremy smirked and put his arms around us. “I’m really happy for you two! Also, I’d like to take the opportunity to say that I called it. Totally called it.”  
  
“You were expecting this to happen?” Hayley sighed. “For how long?”  
  
Jeremy shrugged. “For years now. I see the way you guys act around each other. It wasn’t very hard for me to realize that you two hooking up was inevitable to happen.”  
  
Hayley and I just looked at each other, dumbfounded. Then again, it  _was_  Jeremy Davis and we both should’ve known that he wouldn’t be surprised by the news. He wasn’t an idiot.  
  
“Oh, you know how Jeremy loves to call these things out,” said a voice.  
  
Everyone turned to see Kat, Jeremy’s wife, walk into the room. She was wearing a floral sundress and had long, wavy brown hair that fell over her shoulders. Kat was beaming at all of us, her big brown eyes full of joy and Jeremy’s first instinct was to walk over to her and kiss her cheek. But besides Kat, I noticed that she was holding something. Something wrapped in a pink blanket.  
  
“I also wanted to see if Hayley was okay,” she faced me. “Nice to see you make her so happy, Josh.”  
  
“Oh, it’s nothing, really,” I scratched my head.  
  
“I’ve heard everything you guys said just now,” Kat mused. “It’s way more than something. Like Jeremy said, I’m very happy for you guys. We all are. Even Bliss is happy.”  
  
That was when Hayley linked arms with me and walked me over to Kat and Jeremy as well. Once we were close enough, I looked down at the bundle within the pink blanket that Kat tenderly cradled in her arms and found myself meeting the face of a small baby girl, cooing softly and looking up at me.  
  
“I’ve missed her,” Hayley whispered. Kat then handed her over to Hayley and I couldn’t help but grin at seeing Hayley hold the baby close, unable to hide her glee.  
  
“She’s beautiful,” I said.  
  
Hayley turned toward me. “This is Bliss Belle Buttercup Davis. She’s also known as our little fairy princess.”  
  
“It’s nice to finally meet you, Bliss,” I chuckled.  
  
“You wanna hold her?”  
  
 _Shit._  
  
“M-Me?” I stammered. “Hold her? I-I can’t. No, I can’t-”  
  
But she ignored my protests and before I knew it, she had transferred Bliss to me. Her head was placed in the crook of my right arm and my other arm was wrapped around her. Once I was holding the baby, I had practically become a statue. I was afraid to move while Hayley gently put a hand on my shoulder, telling me to relax because I was way too tense.  
  
I looked at Jeremy for help, but he just nodded at me and smiled. Kat didn’t seem to say anything either, meaning they were both fine with having me hold their child. I, on the other hand, was silently freaking out because the thought of holding a baby was terrifying.  
  
Okay, maybe it wasn’t  _terrifying_ , but I definitely wasn’t used to it. Babies were cute, but I never really held them because on the rare occasions that I did hold them, they’d start crying, the parents would wonder what I did to make their baby cry, and I’d panic. Except, Bliss  _wasn’t_  crying. All she did was look at me with those round eyes much like her mother’s. It was actually kind of a shocker that I had lasted this long, but I did and I looked down at her in wonder. She was so small, so fragile and for a moment she even appeared to smile at me.  
  
Eventually, I finally relaxed my shoulders and was able to breathe easy once I got the hang of things. Bliss was beginning to fall asleep and Hayley leaned her head on my shoulder, the both of us admiring her as she closed her eyes.  
  
“See? You’re a natural,” Hayley kept her voice low, making sure not to wake Bliss. “You even put her to sleep.”  
  
“I hope it’s not because she got bored of me,” I laughed quietly.  
  
“Psh, whatever,” Hayley scoffed. “Just face it. The fairy princess loves you.”  
  
“Fine, fine,” I shook my head. “But really, I’m surprised at how calm she was. I guess I was scared for nothing, huh?”  
  
“Yeah, but it’s pretty entertaining seeing you freak out,” Jeremy said as Kat took Bliss from me to take her to the room. “Taylor was worried to hold her, too. Though in his case, he ended up getting spit on.”  
  
Taylor groaned. “That was one of my favorite shirts, too.”  
  
Hayley stifled a laugh. “At least you managed to get the stain out.”  
  
“Barely,” he muttered. “And you using my toothbrush to scrub off the stain did  _not_  make it any better.”  
  
While their banter went on, I walked over to the couch and Jeremy sat down next to me. Kat returned and sat down next to him, holding his hand and planting a kiss on his temple.  
  
“You really love her, don’t you?” Jeremy said to me.  
  
I heard him, but didn’t face him. Instead, I was too busy gazing over at Hayley as she laughed with Taylor. “Yeah, I do.”  
  
“And she really loves you,” he told me. “I've noticed the way she’s always acted around you and she’s so happy. Like, even when she was with  _him_ , I’ve never seen her look at him the way she looks at you."  
  
“Really?” I asked.  
  
He nodded. “Really. Just...take good care of her, Josh.”  
  
“I will,” I promised.  
  
When Hayley and Taylor were done talking about the amusing story of how Bliss spit up all over Taylor, we all spent the afternoon enjoying each other’s company. Already, I was comfortable being with them and I kept smiling at the thought of this being a regular thing. Like Taylor said, I was now apart of their family.

Now that I was in, I didn’t ever want to get out.

 

* * *

 

That night, after everyone had left, Hayley and I were laying on the couch again. She still wasn’t quite ready to sleep in her bed yet and I couldn’t blame her for not wanting to. Neither of us were tired, however. Our minds were too preoccupied with the reminder that this was going to be our last night together.  
  
 _I’m leaving tomorrow._  
  
“Maybe I should call them to push the tour back for a week,” I suggested.  
  
“No, you don’t have to do that,” she frowned. “You shouldn’t disappoint all your fans because of me.”  
  
“I know, but after all that’s happened to you, I don’t want to leave you,” I said.  
  
She lifted a hand to cup my cheek. “I’ll be fine. Look, I know it sucks that you have to leave here so soon after what we’ve been through, but you should go. Jeremy and Taylor are back, so at least you know I won’t be alone anymore.”  
  
“You’re right,” I agreed. “I have to go back.”  
  
There sadly wasn’t really any reason for me to stay in Los Angeles any longer. Hayley was such a strong person that it was obvious she was already capable of handling herself and the only problem was that  _I_  didn’t want to be off somewhere without her. But I couldn’t be selfish because people had been waiting for this tour. It would be awful for me to do that to both the fans and the band. As soon as this tour was done, then I could see her again. If we were able to spend months apart before, then this should be no different.  
  
“I’m just thankful you were even here at all,” she kissed my forehead. “And it was nice that the guys know about us now.”  
  
“Now all I gotta do is tell the mates back at home,” I murmured. “I can only imagine what they’ll have to say about all this. Too bad you won’t be there to see ‘em.”  
  
She let out a few giggles and sighed. “I’m gonna miss you.”  
  
“I’m gonna miss you, too,” I admitted.  
  
We both fell silent after that exchange; the only sounds being a vehicle or two passing by the house every few minutes. Just when I assumed she had fallen asleep, she sat up and faced me.  
  
“I could go with you,” she said. “I don’t know why I didn’t say it before, but we could go back to the UK together.”  
  
I sat up as well. “You’re really willing to go with me?”  
  
“You were willing to come all the way here for me,” she retorted. “Now you said you were going to tell your band about us. We told my band together. If I go with you, then we can also tell  _your_  band together.”  
  
She did have a point. It also wasn’t like anything was actually stopping her from going with me and though I didn’t want to say it out loud, I would be more at ease if she was by my side when I told the guys. And another thing that didn’t need to be said was that in the back of my head, I was about to ask her to come with me anyway.  
  
“Okay, let’s do it.”  
  
Hayley looked up at me. “You mean it?”  
  
“Yeah,” I smiled. “I mean it.”  
  
So we were really doing this.  
  
We were both going to leave first thing tomorrow morning.


	2. The Talk of Forever Kept Us Warm

Even though waking up early in the morning to get on a long flight was old news to Hayley and I, that didn’t necessarily mean we liked doing it. Our flight was scheduled to depart at around six in the morning and we knew that the smart thing to do was go to bed early so that way we got enough sleep before heading off to catch our plane.  
  
Well...she and I weren’t always smart.  
  
I don’t know why we thought it would be a brilliant idea to stay up so late, but we did it anyway. Maybe it was because we slept for hours the day before, which probably ruined our whole sleeping schedule. Or maybe we were just excited to be leaving California together. Actually, Hayley was more excited than I was because she couldn’t wait to see the guys again. They still had no idea that she was coming and they were still kind of pissed at me for disappearing, but hopefully they’ll be okay once they knew everything. After all, who could stay mad with Hayley around?  
  
Having grown tired of the couch and still not wanting to move to the bedroom, we had settled with lounging around on the floor. I moved the coffee table aside and she got out a clean blanket to wrap around us. With my back against the couch, she shifted to her usual position of curling up against me and buried her face into my shoulder. Earlier in the evening, we watched some of her favorite movies and as the night dragged on, we eventually stopped the last movie halfway and talked instead.  
  
We were still up at 1 AM. At this time we were beginning to grow tired, but sleep was still the last thing on our minds. I felt my eyelids getting heavier while she already had shut her eyes. But that didn’t mean she was sleeping. She was more stubborn to keep herself up, trying to make our conversation go on for as long as possible. That’s when she brought up the band.  
  
“Were they mad that you came here?” she asked. “I hope they weren’t too mad.”  
  
“Not  _too_  mad,” I shook my head. “A little mad perhaps, but I think they were more worried than mad since I kind of left without saying anything to any of them. But they know where I am now since Dan called me the other night.”  
  
She yawned. “What do you think they’ll say about me?”  
  
I put my arm around her and smiled. I knew what they were going to say about her and it even surprised me she would ask that because of course she had nothing to worry about. It wasn’t like the other girls I’ve been with. Hayley wasn’t a stranger and she wouldn’t just be considered as “my new girlfriend”. This was different. She was already so close to them and I knew for a fact that they  _loved_  her because she was just as goofy and crazy as them. Max even considered her like a little sister—nevermind the fact that she was actually older than him.  
  
“They’ll be happy,” I replied. “You’ll be fine. Trust me. Sure, they might punch me in the shoulders a few times for going MIA, but they’ll love having you around.”  
  
She let out a laugh. “I can’t wait.”  
  
Hayley yawned once again and didn’t say anything else after that. She had finally fallen asleep and I gently moved her off of me so that she was laying down. Once she was settled, I lay beside her and it only took a few minutes for me to also give into sleep.  
  
And because of this so-called brilliant idea, we almost missed our flight. We scrambled around her house to make sure we both hadn’t forgotten anything, put our bags into the car, and drove off to the airport. About the only smart thing we did the night before was pack our bags and thank God we did because we definitely wouldn’t have made it.  
  
“Okay, so the next time we fly anywhere,” she said when we finally found our seats on the plane. “We are not staying up that late again. Ever.”  
  
“Sounds like a better plan,” I nodded, still out of breath since we had to run halfway across the airport to reach our gate. “I’m surprised you managed to drive without falling asleep at the wheel.”  
  
“Oh, hush.” She put a finger to my lips. “This is coming from the guy who fell asleep right when he got into the car.”  
  
“Well, yeah, but I didn’t really get to sleep in the car ‘cause you were kind of speeding,” I teased.  
  
“Hey, we survived, didn’t we?” She rolled her eyes and smirked at me. “I had to speed a little so we’d make our flight. And all that matters is that we’re here. You’re going home and I’m coming with you.”  
  
I put my hand on top of hers and our fingers laced together while we heard them announce that they were preparing for take off. She kept glancing out the window, waiting for the plane to start moving and squeezed my hand as the flight attendant began going over the safety and emergency procedures.  
  
“I’m glad you’re with me,” I whispered. “I hate flying alone.”  
  
“Then it’s a good thing I’m here,” she smiled.  
  
Once we were up in the air, we both made up for our lost sleep from the night before pretty quickly. It was maybe half an hour after we took off and already Hayley had curled up on her seat, leaning on the side where the window was and softly breathing. I slightly reclined my own seat and closed my eyes, also drifting off to a peaceful sleep. I think some hours later she had woken up for a few minutes because the next time I opened my eyes, I saw she had moved to use my shoulder as her pillow and we were both covered in blankets. Leave it to her to make sure I was also comfortable. I smiled tiredly and rested my head on top of hers, going back to sleep. It was actually amazing how long we had slept during our time on the plane. Was it really possible to sleep this amount of hours? Then again, since our sleeping schedules hadn’t been the best lately, I probably shouldn’t have even thought about asking myself these questions.  
  
We were still drained when we arrived around midnight. Having been on a ten hour flight coupled with the drastic time change, all we wanted to do was get to my flat and lay down. I drove us this time and it was then her turn to be the one fast asleep in the passenger seat while I tried to stay up at the wheel and get us home. Not wanting to wake her once we got there, I carried her inside and set her down on my bed. I also carefully removed her shoes and took off her jacket, so she wouldn’t be bothered by those while she slept. Our things were still in the car, but because I was way too tired to bring them inside, I decided to wait until the morning to get that taken care of. I needed rest.  
  
But then my cellphone rang.  
  
I let out an exasperated sigh and dug into the pocket of my jeans to take out my phone. Looking at the caller ID, I decided to answer it. Dan was calling again and since I had a feeling that I was going to be getting another call from him sooner or later, I knew better than to ignore it.  
  
I sat at the foot of the bed, putting the phone to my ear. “Yes, Dan?”  
  
“It’s about time you finally answered,” he responded. I could hear in his voice how irritated he was with me, but at the same time he also sounded relieved. “We’ve all been trying to get a hold of you all day. What have you been doing? Are you still in California?”  
  
“No, I’m not,” I told him. “Okay, look, I’m sorry I haven’t answered. I’m not in California, I’m home now. My phone’s been turned off since I was on the plane.”  
  
“So you’re back?” he said. “Well, that’s a relief because you sure picked a great time to be there. You left days before  _tour_. I’m glad you’re back and all, but I still expect an explanation to why you went all the way to the states.”  
  
“Yeah, I know you do.” I ran my hand through my hair. “But can this wait? I’ll tell you everything tomorrow, but right now I need to sleep. We just got home and it’s been a long day-”  
  
“Hold on,” Dan interrupted. “You said  _‘we’_  and the last time I checked, you told me you went there alone.”  
  
I smacked my forehead when I realized that thanks to my weariness, I accidentally slipped out that I didn’t come back by myself. Though this wasn’t going to be a secret for long, I didn’t want to have to tell him over the phone and knowing Dan, he wasn’t going to let me off the hook so easily for not being completely honest with him.  
  
“Is there something you have to tell me, Josh?”  
  
There was no way out of this. “Let’s just say...that I’m going to bring someone with me when I meet up with you guys tomorrow.”  
  
“And who are you bringing, exactly?” he asked.  
  
“I’m bringing...” I bit my lip. “My girlfriend.”  
  
Again, it wasn’t really a lie.  
  
He said a few things under his breath and then sighed. “So you’re telling me that you went all the way to California to be with some girlfriend—who I didn’t know existed until now—and you brought her all the way here? You’re really losing me, Josh. I need to process all this and make sense of what exactly is going on.”  
  
I groaned. “Just relax. Things might seem confusing and sound stupid right now, but it’ll all make sense tomorrow when I see you guys, alright?”  
  
There were a few moments of silence before he spoke up again. “Fine. I’ll see you tomorrow.”  
  
“Bye, Dan.”  
  
“Bye.”  
  
I set my phone down and looked over at Hayley, still sound asleep. Kicking off my shoes, I leaned back on the bed so I could be next to her. Wrapping my arms around her waist, I closed my eyes and thought about what she and I were going to be in for tomorrow.

This was going to be interesting.

 

* * *

 

All of them were already at Dan’s place that afternoon and the only ones they were waiting for were me and of course, Hayley. I assumed he already told them about the conversation we had the previous night, so they were expecting me to be with someone. They just didn’t expect me to be with Hayley Williams of Paramore.

We were parked in front, sitting in the car for a bit before going inside. I lightly tapped my fingers in the steering wheel while Hayley was applying lip gloss and making sure her hair looked right. She then grinned at me and unbuckled her seatbelt. “Ready?”  
  
I opened my door and nodded. “Yeah. Time for you to meet the band.”  
  
“I met them seven years ago,” she laughed. “I think I’ll be fine.”  
  
“Thanks for playing along,” I said as we both got out the car.  
  
“Oh! Sorry, let me start over,” she cleared her throat and then pretended to look worried. “I hope they like me. What if they don’t like me?”  
  
“That’s better,” I chuckled.  
  
She giggled and placed her hand in mine. “But really, I’m so excited to see them again. It’s been what, two months since we were all together? They’re gonna be so surprised.”  
  
I smiled when I thought back at the last time we had toured together. It was back in January and we were all looking forward to hanging out with each other in Australia. I hadn’t seen her in almost a year at that point and after surviving the crowd waiting for us at the airport, I was finally able to catch up with her.  
  
Funny how much had changed since then.  
  
When we reached the door, I rung the doorbell and she stood behind me while we waited. Finally, the door opened and instead of Dan, we found ourselves face to face with Max, who was grinning widely.  
  
“Hey, there he is.” He pulled me into a hug and laughed. “Look who decided to grace us with his presence.”  
  
I chuckled and reciprocated the hug. “Hey, Max.”  
  
He let go of me and patted my shoulder. “So Dan told us you’ve got a girlfriend. Where is this mystery lady you’ve been hiding from us?”  
  
In response to that, Hayley leaned around from behind me and looked up at Max. “Surprise.”  
  
“Hayley?” Max’s eyes widened and once he realized who was behind me, he used an arm to move me out of the way and practically tackled her to pull her into a bear hug. As if him glomping her wasn’t enough, he then proceeded to pick her up and spin her around.  
  
She couldn’t stop laughing and wrapped her arms tightly around him. “I’ve missed you!”  
  
“I’ve missed you, too!” he exclaimed, still spinning her.  
  
“Max, be careful!” I said, raising my voice so he could hear me. “You might drop her!”  
  
He still didn’t hear me, but Hayley gave me a reassuring look and mouthed that she was okay. Thankfully he stopped spinning her and put her down before I had to intervene. It amazed me they both weren’t dizzy from spinning so much, but this was Max and Hayley I was talking about. They were both so energetic and it wasn’t like they haven’t spun around or jumped all over the place during performances before.  
  
Despite him putting her down, she still had her arms tightly around him. “Your hugs are always the best.”  
  
“It’s great to see you again, Hayles,” he said and eventually she loosened her hold so he could turn to me. “So Josh, where’s your girlfriend at?”  
  
Hayley and I looked at each other and then back at Max. While she tried her best not to laugh, I raised an eyebrow and gave him an  _are you serious?_  look.  
  
“She’s right in front of you.”  
  
His eyes darted back to Hayley and then to me again, all the while gaping at us. The next thing I knew, he opened his arms again and glomped both of us this time. For a moment I also could’ve sworn he had lifted the two of us off the ground.  
  
“So  _Hayley’s_  the girlfriend we’ve been waiting to meet,” he mused, letting us go. “It’s about time you finally found the right girl, Josh.”  
  
“Or it’s about time I found the right guy,” Hayley looked up at me and linked our arms.  
  
“Max, what are you doing out here? You said you were answering the door, but come on. You’ve been out here for like five min-”  
  
At hearing his voice, we looked to see Dan standing in the doorway and when he noticed Hayley next to me, a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. Leaning against the frame of the door, he cocked his head to the side and folded his arms across his chest.  
  
“Well, would you look at that,” he smirked. “It all makes sense now.”  
  
Hayley broke away from me so she could walk over to Dan and give him a hug. “Happy to see me, Dan?”  
  
“Of course,” he said. “Always happy to see a good friend of mine.”  
  
Before I could even open my mouth to speak, Max stepped in. “Did you hear the news, Dan? Hayley here is-”  
  
“Also Josh’s girlfriend,” he finished, a smug look still on his face. “I knew it.”  
  
“What are you talking about?” I asked.  
  
“I’ll admit, at first I was a bit confused at what you told me yesterday,” he began. “But the more I thought about it, I started to piece things together. For one, there was your trip to California that was completely out of no where and you explained to me that it was because ‘someone needed you’. There’s only one person I know who lives in California that you would do  _anything_  for no matter what the situation was and I’m looking at her right now.”  
  
He gestured to Hayley while I just stood there with a look of astonishment, not sure what to say in response to all that.  
  
Dan didn’t seem to wait for me to say anything anyway because he was still talking. “It became even more clear when you told me last night that you didn’t come home by yourself. When you mentioned ‘girlfriend’, she was the first guess that popped into my head. And though I had some doubt for a brief second because I thought she was already taken, I saw that tweet she recently posted that said she broke it off with him. Which brings it all together. You guys admitted you like each other and finally hooked up.”  
  
This time I managed to utter a response, but it was only one word. “Wow.”  
  
Hayley stared at him in awe. “Looks like your drummer figured it all out.”  
  
He shrugged, unable to wipe that smirk off his face. “You two liking each other? Yeah, I figured all that out a long time ago. You guys couldn’t have been any more obvious if you tried. Those nights where you two would run off to hang out on the tour bus alone, you guys trying to write songs together over the phone, and let’s not forget that  _Kerrang!_ podcast you two did where you both talked about spooning and getting married. I called it.”  
  
“You sound like Jeremy,” she laughed. “When we told him, he said he called it just like you did.”  
  
“That’s because we’re geniuses,” Dan said as he turned around. “Now enough standing out here. Let’s go inside. Matt and Chris are here, too.”  
  
We watched him and Max go inside and she held onto my arm again, the both of us shaking our heads and grinning at the conversation that just happened. We should’ve known Dan was going to react like this. For all we knew, he and Jeremy probably talked about us numerous times throughout the years.  
  
“It appears we learned something today,” I said.  
  
“We did,” she agreed. “We learned never to question Jeremy and Dan’s intelligence.”  
  
We made our way inside to say hi to Matt and Chris, who were both sitting on the couch. Max was more than happy to inform them that Hayley was here and he also told them the news that she wasn’t just my friend anymore, though they seemed to know that part already thanks to seeing Hayley give me a peck on the cheek.  
  
Matt got up from the couch first to greet us. “Hey, mate. Glad you’re back.”  
  
“Glad to be back,” I nodded.  
  
“How are you, Hayley?” he smiled, putting an arm around her.  
  
“I’m good, thanks,” she said. “What about you, Matt? Hey, isn’t your birthday coming up?”  
  
“Yeah, it is,” he confirmed. “I’m getting older soon.”  
  
“You’re saying  _you’re_  old?” she scoffed, putting her hands on her hips. “I don’t know if you guys remember, but I’m the oldest one here right now.”  
  
“If it makes you feel better, you’re also the shortest one here,” Max teased.  
  
“That makes me feel  _so_  much better, Max. I feel younger already.”  
  
Chris offered us to sit down so we wouldn’t have to stand in the middle of the living room. He scooted over so we could take a seat and Matt sat back down next to me while Max and Dan sat on the chairs.  
  
“So what brings you to the UK?” Chris leaned forward so he could turn toward Hayley. “Besides being with Josh and all. I mean, what made you come back with him?”  
  
“I wanted to make the most of my time off,” she answered. “I’ve just been stuck at home since I’m not touring for the next few weeks and after what I’ve been through, I just wanted to get out of LA, you know? I also wanted to see you guys since I missed all of you. That gave Josh and I the opportunity to tell you about us.”  
  
I glanced over at Dan, who had propped his feet up on the coffee table. While everyone was focused on Hayley, he didn’t seem as attentive. Sure, he was still listening, but he kept opening up his mouth as if he wanted to say something. However, each time he did so, he’d close it. My guess was that he had things to ask her because while he did figure out our relationship, there were still questions that he didn’t get answers to. Finally, he cleared his throat and spoke up.  
  
“Um, I’ve been meaning to ask you, Hayley,” he said slowly. “What happened between you and your, um, your ex? Considering how surprising it was for most people to find out that you’re not with him anymore, it seems like it ended badly. You don’t have to tell us if you’re still uncomfortable to talk about it.”  
  
“Oh, it’s completely fine,” Hayley shook her head. “I don’t blame you for wanting to know since so much went on these past few days. I was even gonna tell you guys anyway. Chad and I fell apart and he decided to cheat on me and leave. That’s why we’re over. I’m still shocked that he did that, but I’m moving forward from it.”  
  
I watched their eyes widen when she told them the truth and I was surprised myself when she actually said his name. She didn’t even stutter or grimace when she explained what he did and a smile crossed my features at this. I shouldn’t have been surprised. She never liked to dwell on horrible things and she never let them destroy her. She was moving on and she put all the bad shit behind her. That’s the kind of person she was. That’s the kind of person she always was.  
  
“I could even thank him for what he did,” she continued as she faced me and started playing with my hair. “Because of him, I never would’ve realized that the guy I really belong with was right in front of me the whole time.”  
  
“When he left her, Jeremy and Taylor weren’t around,” I explained. “She called me, saying she needed me. So I left in the middle of the night to make sure she was okay and the rest is history.”  
  
“Well, that’s great that you two realized how you feel about each other,” Chris smiled.  
  
“And fuck Chad,” Max added, clearly a little angered that someone did that to Hayley. “You were too good for him. Besides, he had a stupid name anyway. You don’t need a guy with two shitty first names.”  
  
Matt burst out laughing. “Dude, what’s with you calling people out with two first names?”  
  
“I’m not the only one. A fan I met agrees that lads with two first names are bad news.”  
  
Hayley was giggling so much to the point where she was leaning against me and covering her mouth. Even I was amused by Max’s comment since it was a mixture of sweet and humorous due to him trying to make her laugh and the ridiculousness of it. He was an expert at delivering lines of that combination.  
  
“He’s right, you don’t need him,” I murmured before kissing her forehead. “You have me. You have us.”  
  
“And that’s an upgrade,” Dan leaned back in his chair. “We’re more fabulous than him, after all.”  
  
Hayley hummed softly. “You guys are the best.”  
  
Moving on from the conversation, we then started talking about tour. Our first show was tomorrow and it was going to be the first show where we were finally going to perform more songs off of  _Cavalier Youth_. The guys were all for having Hayley coming along with us for a couple of dates and she was absolutely thrilled, especially since she has told me a few times how she loved the new album and wanted to hear the other songs live.

Of course we wanted her to come with us. I was just as excited as she was because nothing made me happier than traveling around the world with my best friends and the girl of my dreams.

 

* * *

 

“This is the perfect song to play last.”  
  
We were sitting on the leather couch of the tour bus, which was parked outside the venue. I had pulled her onto my lap and in her hands she was holding a wrinkled piece of paper covered in pen marks and crossed out songs. She was taking a look at our setlist and the last song we were planning to play had caught her eye. It was a song that was fairly popular amongst our fans and this was also her favorite song, too.  
  
It was late afternoon when we arrived at our destination and we were supposed to head out the bus in a few minutes to get things set up. The ride that morning had gone smoothly. It was quicker than we thought and almost everyone was mostly sleeping. Hayley and I didn’t rest as much because of our sleeping schedules that were still off, so we killed time by playing card games and looking out the window to play “I Spy”, even if there was nothing interesting to see most of the time. We mostly stayed on that leather couch because though we tried to hang out near the bunks, Matt told us we were making too much noise and exiled us to the front so he could get some peace and quiet.  
  
“For some reason, I feel like that statement was biased,” I chuckled.  
  
She flicked me in the head. “Very funny. Yeah, I know it’s the song that I love more than anything—except  _you_ , of course.”  
  
“Nice save.”  
  
“Thanks. But anyway, it’s not just because it’s my favorite.” She put the setlist down beside us. “Everything about it makes it the perfect song to end the show. The emotions, the lyrics, your voice. It’s an amazing track that the fans love just as much as me and this is gonna be ringing in their ears when they head home tonight. This show’s gonna be awesome.”  
  
Just then, Dan walked in from the bunk area and sat down at the small table across from us. “What’s up with you guys?”  
  
“We were just talking about the last song,” I picked up the piece of paper and handed it to him. “She’s excited to watch us play it since it’s, you know, her favorite and all.”  
  
His eyes trailed down to the bottom of the list and he nodded. “Oh yeah,  _that_  song. I can’t believe Josh didn’t ask you this yet, but why don’t you sing it with him?”  
  
“Sing it with him?” Her eyes lit up at this suggestion. “I-I didn’t really think of that either. You really think I should do it?”  
  
“You’re acting like you guys haven’t done this before,” Dan muttered as he propped an elbow on the table and rested his chin on his hand. “You’ve sang on stage together a shitload of times, so this will be nothing.”  
  
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Well, uh, yeah, but they don’t even know she’s here and they’ll start wondering why and nobody really knows about us yet-”  
  
“Then this is the perfect opportunity to let ‘em know,” he insisted. “I mean, they’re gonna find out sooner or later and you might as well tell them yourselves. Sing on stage together. Surprise the fans with a great end to the set. It’s a cooler way to do it than just typing out a 140 character-long announcement.”  
  
The both of us exchanged glances. Dan’s suggestion wasn’t a bad idea at all. It was best if we told people together ourselves rather than some gossip magazine or some other random person telling the world. Singing this song with Hayley would be fun like all the other times I’ve sung with her and it would be way better than using social networking to break the news. This was our first show, so why the hell not?  
  
“What do you think?” I asked her. “You want to do this?”  
  
She placed her hands on my shoulders and kissed me on the nose. “Let’s give them a show they’ll never forget.”  
  
Dan got up from the table and started walking toward the door. “Told you guys I was a genius. Now enough sitting around, lovebirds. We gotta load equipment.”  
  
For the next few hours leading up to the show, we were all getting set for it, Hayley included. She had been extremely helpful with things such as getting our stuff into the venue and even helping a little with soundcheck. She didn’t even have to do anything, but she made the choice on her own. Because she was in a band of her own, she already knew all the things that had to be done before the concert and that was mainly why she didn’t want to just sit around and do nothing.  
  
More time passed and it was finally showtime. We could already hear the crowd screaming and cheering for us to come out. Hayley was walking ahead of me on the stairs that led to the stage and when I caught up to her at the top, I was met with a quick kiss on the cheek and her embrace. “Good luck tonight.”  
  
“You, too.”  
  
“I’ll be cheering from the sidelines until it’s time.”  
  
“I can’t wait.”  
  
She walked through the door and made sure she was standing in a spot where people couldn’t see her from the audience and the rest of us headed out on the stage where the crowd was getting excited because the lights had gone out, meaning the moment they had been waiting for had finally arrived. I walked up to the front of the stage where my microphone was and took the mic from the stand to raise it in the air. That’s when Chris began playing the first few notes to “Too Young to Feel This Old”, finally kicking off our show.  
  
The energy tonight was incredible. Fans were loudly belting out every single song we played and the look on all their faces showed nothing but pure happiness. Throughout the show, I would look to the side where Hayley was watching and for most of the songs, she was dancing and mouthing the words. Her being there had also apparently given me a confidence boost because I was jumping around more than usual and singing louder than I ever had. That night it became evident that Jeremy wasn’t the only one that liked to show off in front of the woman he loved.  
  
Our set was coming to an end and I knew what was coming next. We were going to play our last song and Hayley was going to come out so she could sing it with me. My heart was beating rapidly from my actions on stage and anticipation for the surprise that nobody in the venue was aware of. I looked to the side again and saw her getting ready, having been handed a mic and in the process of putting on her ear piece, setting up her monitor.  
  
Everyone had quieted down when they saw me return to the mic stand and once I caught my breath, I spoke up.  
  
“You guys have been so amazing tonight. It’s been a fucking fantastic show!” I shouted and they all responded with screams. I took a deep breath, smiling at all the fans waiting to hear what else I had to say. “And because of how great you all have been, we’re doing something special for you for this last song. Now there’s something I have to tell you...I brought a special guest.”  
  
They all began cheering again and among the yelling, I saw that some were whispering into each others ears, trying to guess who this special guest could be. Hayley was ready, mic in hand and blowing me a kiss, waiting for me to finish talking so she could come out soon to reveal herself to them.  
  
I couldn’t take my eyes off of her and didn’t care how weird I looked for staring to my right the whole time while talking. “This special guest means a lot to me and I’m completely in love with her. Which is why she’s singing this next song with me.”  
  
The crowd couldn’t believe what they were hearing and I even noticed that a few jaws had dropped at my words. Then Chris started strumming his guitar and they almost lost it.  
  
“This song is called ‘Always Attract’.”  
  
They were all screaming again because this was something we hadn’t played in a while. Immediately, fans were raising their cell phones and the whole venue was soon filled with bright screens. I heard a few people in the front muttering a few things, wanting so badly to see who I was going to sing with. But Hayley wasn’t coming out yet. She knew exactly when she was coming out.  
  
Everyone was singing along and I held the mic stand close to me after getting through the chorus. It was getting closer to her part and she was aware that she was going to sing soon because she was grinning widely at me.  
  
I reached the second verse and just like that, I heard her voice and she slowly walked out on stage toward me. Realizing who she was, everyone went crazy and yelled out her name. The stage lights shined down on her and I almost stumbled on my words at how amazing she sounded. Yes, we had sang together dozens of times and had even sang this particular song before, but this time was different.  _I_  felt different. Butterflies were in my stomach and I was mesmerized by how she sang every note so perfectly.  
  
We had sang this song together five years ago and back then, I didn’t realize how much she affected me. Five years ago we were young, doing it just because we thought it’d be cool and thought of it as nothing but two friends performing together. But doing it again five years later, we weren’t just singing with each other. We were singing to each other. We were older, we were closer, and she was mine.  
  
I had taken my mic off the stand and we were standing face to face, Hayley just inches away from me. She raised the mic to her lips and took over once the small instrumental break was done.  
  
 _You always have your way..._  
  
I started singing again and held out my hand. She reached out and held it as the drums kicked in and when the whole band joined in, we raised our voices for the final part of the song. Fan had their hands in the air, some even recording what was happening before their eyes, yet I couldn’t help but only focus on her. My eyes were locked on her as we both finished the song, singing the last few lines and leaning in closer while the crowd watched.  
  
Our lips finally met and the entire building was filled with applause, the crowd going wild. I let the mic slip out of my hands and wrapped my arms around her while she stood on the tip of her toes and wrapped her arms around my neck. For a moment, it felt like it was only the two of us on that stage while everything else seemed to fade away. My cheeks were hurting from smiling too much and I was sweaty from a long night of performing, but all that mattered was that we found happiness.  
  
She pulled away and smiled at me. “The perfect song.”

I shook my head and laughed, pressing my forehead against hers. “To end a perfect night.”

 

* * *

 

Long after the show, we were at the hotel. She was standing out on the balcony alone until I decided to join her. I hugged her from behind and rested my chin on her shoulder while she continued to look out at the night sky.  
  
“What are you doing out here?” I asked.  
  
“Just enjoying the view,” she murmured. “And I was just thinking.”  
  
“What are you thinking about?”  
  
She turned to look over her shoulder at me. “I’ve been thinking...everything just fell into place. You. Me. I’m really happy right now and I can’t stop thinking about how I’m with you.”  
  
“I can’t either,” I nodded. “Years ago, I would’ve never thought this would happen.”  
  
“And yet it did,” she said. “So much has changed.”  
  
“Well, I don’t want anything to change right now,” I sighed happily. “I like things just the way they are.”  
  
“Me, too,” she agreed. “I love you, Josh.”  
  
“I love you, too, Hayley.”  
  
I held her tightly and nuzzled against her cheek. It was a cold night, so we stayed close to stay warm. Like all our nights together, it was late and we weren’t ready to fall asleep because all we wanted was to spend time with each other.  
  
And that’s how it was going to be from now on because nothing made me happier than to hold her and kiss her and never let her go.

 


End file.
